Longs Peak

Route: Cables + keyhole
Posted On: 6/30/2022, By: geg86
Info: Some soft but unavoidable snow remains on the cables route with some (mostly avoidable) verglas on the top out between the final eyebolt and summit. Otherwise only a few insignificant patches of ice. Spikes were sufficient, would recommend an ax.

Keyhole had verglas on the homestretch in the early am. Remaining snow/ice on the route was avoidable w careful route finding. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 6/29/2022, By: RWSchaffer
Info: Almost summer conditions. This means NOT summer conditions. While almost all of the route was melted out, occasional small sections of trail were covered by residual snow, with the first ones around timberline and the last one at the top where a stretch of snow at the end of the Homestretch led to the only snowfield on the summit. Most of this snow was just a nuisance and could be walked along or avoided. The exception was snow in the Trough, pictured, where I used spikes in both directions on two short stretches that required climbing on well frozen snow; my ice axe stayed on my pack.

Where there was melting snow, there were ice patches in early morning. Again, these began around timberline and continued to the summit. Again, they were not really an issue until minor patches of verglas appeared on the Narrows with major verglas coverage on the Homestretch. People who summited later may have had an easier time as it began to melt, but those of us who summited around 9:00 AM found ourselves moving from crack to crack on the Homestretch looking for dry rock that could be climbed safely. It didn't make the route unclimbable, but it did make it more difficult and require more caution. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 6/27/2022, By: runningbuff
Info: Route is 99% free of snow, just a little bit now left in the trough. We brought microspikes but didn't end up needing them. No one else on the summit today, probably fair given that it snowed, rained, and thundered on us most of the way down! Beautiful ascent though. 

Route: Keplinger Couloir
Posted On: 6/22/2022, By: jfm3
Info: I climbed Apache Peak on June 20 and got a good look at Keplinger's Couloir. The Narrows and Homestretch on the Keyhole Route look dry. There may be some snow on the Clark's Arrow traverse from the Loft to the Homestretch. 

Route: Trough Couloir
Posted On: 6/11/2022, By: merrion13
Info: Moderate snow near Black Lake and to the base of the Trough, snow was soft in the Trough even at 5:30am. Snow in the couloir was starting to shed early, it was very warm today and it's going fast. Still mixed snow on the Narrows and Homestretch, although that is also melting very quickly. Traction still needed this weekend. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 6/10/2022, By: Will_E
Info: Went up the loft route today, down the keyhole. There's a fair amount of snow below treeline. It clears up and becomes patchy en route to Chasm Lake. Getting up the slope to the Loft wasn't terribly difficult, but a few snowfields aren't avoidable. There were a few additional snowfields between the Loft and the homestretch, I used ice axe for security on one of them, but the snow was pretty good, just a few postholes. I put crampons on at the bottom of the homestretch, kept them on to summit, didn't take them off until I reached the keyhole. Fortunately there were kicksteps in place already from the homestretch all the way to the keyhole, made the descent much easier. Lots of snow on the homestretch, narrows, trough and ledges. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 5/16/2022, By: takelifeoutside
Info: Started at 5am. 6 hours out on the mountain, snow picks up about a half mile up the trail. Put spikes on then and kept them on to the summit. The snow was solid, no postholing. It was my first time up Longs to the summit so with the snow I didn't quite stay on trail on the time but it was easy to follow the tracks and head in the right direction. Once over the keyhole the spikes were essential for me and I had my ice axe out for stability. Little of the route after you pass through the keyhole isn't covered in snow. Once you pop back over on the side of the narrows it was pretty clear and scrambling to the top was pretty clean. By the time I was descending I still wasn't experience poor conditions with the snow, pretty solid. Once you are back in the tree line the snow surface was soft but I was able to run the descent without spikes and had no issues. 

Route: Trough Couloir
Posted On: 5/16/2022, By: jfm3
Info: I attempted Longs via the Trough Couloir on May 14. I started at the Glacier Gorge trailhead at 5 AM, turned around at 12,600 feet in the couloir at 9:30 AM and was back at the car at 2 PM. The trail from the car to Jewel Lake is almost all snow, and it's well-packed. I took the Glacier Knobs shortcut and even that was well-packed. That trail crosses the creek several times on stable snow bridges. On the descent it was about 50 degrees but I didn't need snowshoes below Jewel Lake. On the way up, Jewel Lake to Black Lake was firm snow. The tracks are sparse, so follow a GPS route or just aim for Black Lake. On the way down, Black Lake to Jewel Lake required snowshoes. You will have a terrible time wallowing in the snow if you don't have snowshoes. The couloir itself still has snow all the way to the bottom, but it's not very deep. Rollerball debris appeared about where I turned around. It is possible to stay on snow from the bottom all the way to the top at the corner to the Narrows. The small cliff band near the bottom had thick water ice- I bypassed on the rock ledges on either side. Upper Glacier Gorge is still buried in snow. Once the sun came over Keyhole Ridge the snow warmed up quickly. If you start early enough to climb up the entire couloir while it's still in the shade, a summit is probably likely. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/3/2022, By: Xeroxly
Info: It's nearly summer conditions out there! Small amounts of snow in the trough and on the home stretch all of which is avoidable. There are quite a few spots when melt makes the rock wet and slippery though. No traction needed at all just be careful! 

Route: Lambs Slide
Posted On: 2/27/2022, By: Boontawn
Info: Went up to Lamb's Slide to assess avalanche conditions and snow-pack for a future ascent. Snow is unstable with snow on low angle slopes heading up to Lamb's Slide breaking into small chunks/slabs 1"-3" deep when stepped on. Had a short, low angle slope right before getting to Lamb's Slide fracture about 3 feet when kicking it. Didn't progress to the bottom of Lamb's Slide as that seemed like a poor idea given the snow conditions. 

Route: Keplinger Couloir
Posted On: 1/31/2022, By: justiner
Info: Good trench set up off of the Sandbeach Lake Trail to below Mt. Orton, where the high winds will remove any trace of it. 'shoeing past this is without too many difficulties. Both creek crossing are running on the trail, but the unnamed lake below Keplinger's is frozen solid - camel up!

Lots of avalanche debris, wind loading evidence, and cornices above while hiking across/below Mt. Orton - be advised.

Snow on Keplinger's absolutely terrible and doesn't support body weight well - prepare for post hole hell - many dead ends trying to climb from snow onto rocky ribs which just didn't work.

This is particularly dangerous once past the Notch, as the snow climbing here features the aforementioned, as well as small collections of windslabs supported by questionable layers underneath. Coupled with the cliffs below, even a small release could cause a climber to have a very bad accident. I had to resort to hugging the top of much of the snowfields, and using the rocks for handholds. Many attempts that dead ended with not feeling a section and retreating. Be very careful and continually evaluate.

Homestretch also has not very supportive snow, but it's not as deep, and wasn't as much of a problem.

Descent via Keplinger's was much easier than climbing, as you can plunge step up to your hips a few hundred times and be done with it. 

Route: Cables
Posted On: 1/30/2022, By: jtfoss1
Info: Bootpack to treeline, but hard to find and intermittent beyond that. Occasional postholing, usually no more than a foot. The boulderfield has some snow but not enough to make it tedious. With another foot or so, though, it will get difficult unless it fills in completely. Solid neve snow in most places that matter on the actual route, made it easier overall. The snow was solid and didn't seem deep enough (I'd occasionally hit rock with my crampons) to pose a slide risk... but I'm no expert. The scramble above the bolts had traces of a boot path and it was easy to find the cairns. Nobody else on the summit! 

Route: Cables
Posted On: 1/30/2022, By: Aphelion
Info: Packed trail to the Chasm lake junction, from there to the boulder field is intermittently covered in windblown snow. The field is partially filled in, but still not too difficult to navigate. Below and up through the first pitch is covered in mostly supportive wind slab. The second pitch has some snow, but is mostly bare. Little/no ice, and hard snow for much of the rest of the way. We wore crampons from the cables apron to the summit. No flotation required yet. 

Route: Cables
Posted On: 1/18/2022, By: merrion13
Info: Trail snow packed from the trailhead up until Granite Pass. Boulder field snow-free. The snow at the apron below Cables doesn't start until higher up, good styrofoam texture. It wasn't sunny yesterday so that should help preserve it. Bolted area of Cables had some snow, as did scramble to summit. Recommend crampons from apron to summit. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 11/29/2021, By: justiner
Info: DRY. Minimal snow on the approach. You'll find the most snow in some surprisingly deep, body-swallowing, and unconsolidated patches of snow on the Ledges, with deep snow avoidable in the Trough and barely any snow on the Narrows.

Cables was also very dry - I personally didn't even break out my ice axe and just had carbide spikes in my shoes (no crampons needed). The technical part sported snow and ice, but the snow was unconsolidated and the ice thin. The approach up to the technical section was (surprise) also dry.